Page 35 - Annual Report 2020

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Occupational and process safety (including geotechnical failures and underground fires or explosions)
Risks associated with the safety of BHP employees and contractors in performing their work and the containment of hazardous materials.

Why is this important to BHP? Strategic Report
Our sites, offices and other places where our people are located in connection with the performance of their work may be subject to occupational
safety and process safety/hazardous materials containment incidents. These may include fires and explosions (above and underground), road,
vehicle, mobile equipment, port, shipping, railroad, aircraft or airport incidents (including where these services are contracted to third parties),
falls from height, lifting or crane incidents, food or water safety incidents, loss of power supply, environmental pollution, geotechnical hazards,
mechanical equipment failures, mine-related accidents, personal conveyance equipment failures or loss of primary containment of hazardous
materials. Our oil and gas operations may also experience a loss of well control involving an uncontrolled flow of well fluids or formation fluids from
the wellbore to the surface, including at our offshore operated and non-operated assets. Our people may come into contact with electricity, work in
confined spaces, be exposed to conditions where air quality is unsafe, or work with or in close proximity to hazardous materials, such as flammable,
explosive, toxic, corrosive or molten materials or other materials at high pressure or temperature, which may lead to or exacerbate operational Governance at BHP
accidents. Exposure to some substances, such as diesel particulate matter, may also pose short- and long-term health and safety risks to our people.
In addition, the mental and physical health of our people may be affected by events that take place in connection with the performance of their work,
including threats to their physical security, workplace sexual harassment and assault or other events or circumstances, such as controls implemented
in response to a pandemic.
We have onshore and offshore extractive, processing and logistical operations in many geographic locations. Transporting our people to the
locations of our exploration activities and operations often involves helicopters, aeroplanes or other high occupancy vehicles. We have port facilities
and four underground mines, including underground coal and nickel mines, and the nature of the activities performed at these facilities and mines
can involve safety hazards, such as geotechnical failures, underground fires and/or underground explosions.
We operate in zones prone to natural disasters. This includes our Western Australia Iron Ore, Queensland Coal and Gulf of Mexico oil and gas assets,
which are located in areas subject to cyclones or hurricanes, and our Chilean copper and Peruvian base metals assets and Global Asset Services
office in Manila, which are located in known tectonically seismic (earthquake- and tsunami-prone) zones. Remuneration Report
Threats

Occupational safety and process safety/hazardous materials Our response to occupational safety and process safety/hazardous
containment incidents (such as a geotechnical failure, an underground materials containment incidents, such as our emergency response or
fire or explosion in one of our mines or a well blow out during operated engagement with affected stakeholders, may not be adequate and could
or non-operated drilling activities) may lead to serious injuries, loss of life result in impacts being amplified.
or livelihood or quality of life to BHP employees, contractors or members The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for health and safety
of the community. In addition, these incidents may result in: systems across our operations, such as the implementation of social
• interruption to production or other activities critical to our business distancing measures at our sites. A failure to adequately respond to Directors’ Report
• disruptions to our supply chain these challenges could affect our ability to operate in specific
• failure of processing equipment or support infrastructure (for example, jurisdictions and may result in health and safety impacts, legal action
relating to power, water, transport or technology) or reputational impacts. In addition, the pandemic may amplify impacts
• environmental damage (for example, due to the uncontrolled release associated with the occupational safety and process safety/hazardous
materials containment risks described above. For example, the ability
of hydrocarbons following an offshore well blow out)
• increased costs or other commercial impacts of emergency services to respond to operational incidents at our sites
(including those described above) may be affected by diversion of
• litigation (including class actions), fines or investigations by authorities resources by local or national governments or additional safeguards that
and reputational damage have been implemented to protect emergency responders.
• loss of workforce confidence Our risk financing approach is to self-insure or not purchase external
• short- and long-term health and safety risks to members of the insurance for certain risks. For more information, refer to the Asset
community, and adverse impacts on local communities’ economic integrity and tailings storage facilities risk factor.
position or human rights Financial Statements
Management
We employ a number of measures designed to detect, eliminate, prevent • training and qualifications for staff and contractors (including drill rig
and mitigate occupational safety and process safety/hazardous materials contractors and aircraft operators)
containment incidents, including: • specifying minimum technical specifications for aircraft
• BHP’s standards on aviation, health, safety, the environment and • influencing joint venture partners to align with internationally
community, crisis and emergency management recognised standards
• compliance with quality assurance standards (for example, the Drilling • monitoring adverse weather conditions, ground stability (based on
and Completions Quality Assurance Standard for Petroleum offshore early alert systems) and pressure/temperature of materials
drilling and completion activity) • continuity plans and crisis and emergency response plans Additional information
• selection and design of mine plans (in compliance with our global • self-insurance for losses arising from property damage, business
geotechnical standards), wells and equipment to prevent incidents interruption and construction
(including slope design and underground support systems) • applying our experience in safety frameworks to the issue of sexual
• inspection, maintenance and improvements of infrastructure and harassment and assault in order to prevent and respond appropriately
critical equipment to protect our people and assets (for example, to such events, and create an inclusive workplace
cyclone resilience, pressure vessels designed to contain fluids or gas • implementation of a global COVID-19 control framework across BHP,
at pressure and emergency response equipment) which includes health and hygiene controls for our workforce,
• implementing controls at our operated assets to comply with partners and the communities in which we operate
applicable local laws and regulations on safety (for example, relating
to the safe storage, handling and use of explosives, fuels and other
flammable substances) Shareholder information

FY2020 insights
The Group’s occupational safety performance continued to improve in FY2020 compared to FY2019, with higher hazard identification and lower high
potential injuries, and the identification of process safety/hazardous material containment incidents across our business also improved over this
period. Exposure to these risks is expected to remain relatively stable in FY2021. Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic is intended to support the
safety of our workforce and maintain the confidence of key stakeholders (such as local and national governments and the communities in which we
operate), and to enable the continuation of BHP’s operations in a safe and sustainable manner. Notwithstanding our efforts and the efforts of local
and national governments where we operate, it is possible that the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to impact the communities where our assets
are located, which may jeopardise the health, safety and wellbeing of our workforce.

BHP Annual Report 2020 33